[Server-sky] Need a projector minder for Portland sustainability conference

[Michael Turner]

For giving me lulz in a day otherwise without lulls, I wrote the
following as a Project Persephone Facebook group post:

======

LOL of the Day (so far): Keith Lofstrom writes that he'll be at the
"IEEE Sustainability Conference. In the years since my last IEEE
conference presentation, the organization has unofficially
"standardized" on Microsoft and Powerpoint, the poorly-tuned coal
plants of software. "

http://lists.server-sky.com/pipermail/server-sky/2013-July/000158.html

As long as I'm here: Keith and I both got serious about our space
agendas around the same time: 2009. And with the same motivations:

(1) Intimations of mortality: we're both baby boomers and not getting
any younger. If not now, when?

(2) The Coming of Wisdom: none of the space cadet dreams we had in our
youth seem to be moving very fast toward realization, if they are
moving at all. We both figured out why not,and started looking at what
might be more realistic. Yes, realism doesn't have to be depressing.
Let's invent our way out of this corner!

(3) An Ever-Growing Alarm: the home planet is headed for serious
trouble. Global warming is real; the human contribution might not be
100% certain, but why take the chance it's not? Talk about corners
we've got to invent our way out of! Our species, Homo
Sometimes-not-so-sapiens, might need to figure out how to use space
resources to substitute for terrestrial ones, if it's possible and if
it's not too late.

Keith Loftstrom's Server Sky seems to be the only other initiative
besides Project Persephone that looks at solving the problem of space
access and space development by trying to see if there's a new market
nobody has thought of before. Most of the noise and fury in NewSpace
now is about attempted baby boomer realization of old dreams. Space
mining? As old as science fiction. (I wouldn't be surprised if Kepler
said something about it.) Space tourism? Ditto. Private sector moon
and Mars missions? Science fiction initially /assumed/ a commercial
space future -- governments doing it first came as a surprise. Pushing
these old dreams has helped keep space development smoldering, but
none have really made it catch fire so far. Server Sky could do that.
Go take a look: http://server-sky.com/

Regards,
Michael Turner

Project Persephone
K-1 bldg 3F
7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682
turner at projectpersephone.org
http://www.projectpersephone.org/

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry


On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 1:54 AM, Keith Lofstrom <keithl at kl-ic.com> wrote:
> Portlanders: Help!
>
> I need assistance from a Windows and Powerpoint and Internet Explorer
> and Oddball Projector guru standing by during a presentation I will
> make Thursday morning (Lloyd Center Doubletree), orchestrating
> the infrastructure and rapidly solving unexpected problems.
> Any AV impresarios here?
>
>
> The venue: IEEE Sustainability Conference.  In the years since my
> last IEEE conference presentation, the organization has unofficially
> "standardized" on Microsoft and Powerpoint, the poorly-tuned coal
> plants of software.
>
> I haven't used either for years, nor do I do the kind of sophorific
> bullet-point text wads that Powerpoint is designed to inflict on
> audiences.  I wrote my own tool ( http://server-sky.com/wydiwys )
> that is graphic and animation oriented, and presents through most
> web browsers, such as Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer.
>
> But conferences are not designed to handle exceptions.  Bang bang
> bang, back-to-back presentations assembled into one big Powerpoint
> slide deck.  I find myself with a 20 minute window to present some
> very unexpected ideas, as well as handle the swapping of
> presentation tools.  The conference chair is Not Happy.  If I can
> not only arrange to take care of my own exception, and additionally
> solve whatever else comes up, the chair might be Mollified.
>
> I know there are some wonderfully helpful volunteer types here;
> what I need is expertise and rapid problem solving; good intentions
> are humbly appreciated but probably insufficient for this task.
> I expect I will be paying somebody who is Really Good, and pointers
> to that somebody would be extra special humbly appreciated.
>
> Help!
>
> Keith
>
> --
> Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
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